And She Could Accept That
by NextGeneration18
Summary: Devlin Gender Bend fic! Bottom line: Ken deserved a blonde model who was feminine in her personality and didn't have a father who had been on the Intergalactic 10 Most Wanted List at one point. Warning: BWEN. Explanation inside. Devlyn/Ken
1. Proluge

**Hey, everyone! I know judging from one of my previous stories that I'm also fond of Gwevin. I like both Gwevin and Bwen for different reasons.**

 **I only like Gwevin if Kevin genuinely changes, but judging by what I've seen in the series, he doesn't all that much, though every little improvement is nice. But if we're wanting to be realistic, no one can really change another person if the person doesn't really want to change. This is why I like Bwen. He doesn't need as much "improvement" so to speak as much as Kevin. Ben's nice, and funny, more sensitive, and, if I had to choose which one to raise a family with, I'd pick Ben (I mean, did you SEE Kevin when they introduced Jimmy Jones? Kevin made him cry while Ben offered him a tissue.). He'd just be the better guy and influence for my kids. Now mind you, I'm not TOATALLY against Gwevin, mind you; I'm just saying. So, for the sake of the story, Ben and Gwen are not related, rather, he was originally adopted by Carl and Sandra Tennyson, and of course following the story of Ken 10, Kevin's evil and in the Null Void and Devlyn's being raised by the Tennysons. Ken and Devlyn are about 16-17 years old, and Devlyn's wrestling with her feelings for her foster brother. As a side note, Ken looks like a red haired version of Ben, being that he's not married to Kai in this story. Enjoy!**

It didn't come as fireworks, it didn't come with a bang, but rather, it was a slow burn that had been gradually building up over the course of 6 years.

Devlyn hadn't meant to fall in love with Ken and didn't even remember when she did; it just happened.

It had been around the beginning of high school she had started to figure out that she had begun to feel _something_ for him, but wasn't sure what. He had just been so sweet, patient and supportive over the years of her living with him that it shouldn't have surprised her that she had begun to fall for him, but it hadn't quite hit her yet that she had.

With her history as a street kid and abused daughter, trust didn't come easy to her, especially with men, even after she moved in with the Tennysons. In fact, she was on her guard for the first three weeks wondering what was going to happen. It hadn't been the first time someone had offered her shelter, and had only wanted something out of her. She was just waiting for Ben to place some blueprints of some bank or high level security system for her to hack in front of her, but it never happened. Instead, he had seemed to want to bond with her, something that was rare but suspicious. Kevin never tried to reach out to her unless he wanted something from her. But it wasn't just Ben wanting to bond wit her, Gwen and Ken wanted to spend time with her as well. Devlyn liked Gwen immediately. She reminded her so much of her own mother that it was scary. She had done a double take when she had first seen her. It was that uncanny. The only real difference was the height and the eye color. Devlyn's mother was taller than the average woman and had bright blue eyes instead of green. Still, their personalities, some of their mannerisms, and even smile was so. Much. Like. Her mother. Another difference was that Gwen was always smiling and laughing, while her mother has always been sad and withdrawn. To the day she died, Devlyn always craved seeing her mother smile but rarely saw it, thanks to her father.

A month after she arrived, Devlyn couldn't take it anymore. She leaned on the counter where Gwen was making dinner one evening and decided to ask her some questions.

"Did you have a sister, Gwen?"

Gwen looked perplexed and tilted her head in Devlyn's direction and continued stirring the chili on the stove.

"No; why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." Devlyn shrugged trying not to choke up. Talking about her mother never failed to sadden her. It was the final crime that had gotten her father sent to the Null Void the first time in her lifetime, "My mother…you look just like her."

Gwen snapped her head in Devlyn's direction.

"Really?"

Devlyn nodded.

"With the exception of the height and eyes." her blue eyes misted over with tears.

Gwen knelt down to her level.

"Devlyn, this is the first time you mentioned your mother. Would you like to tell me about her?"

Devlyn swallowed as tears slid down her cheeks. The truth hurt so much…but it had to be told _sometime_. Might as well get it all out in the open now.

She nodded.

Gwen had looked at the pot of chili and turned down the burner.

"Dinner should keep for a while," she covered the pot, "Let's go in the living room."

Ben and Ken had been out for the day so they had the whole house to themselves. They sat on the burgundy couch set and Gwen put an arm around her shoulder. Devlyn sniffed and tried not to break down and cry. She pulled out a faded picture from her gray hoodie pocket and handed it to Gwen.

"Here she is," Devlyn looked down, "it was on one of those rare days when mom was actually happy. I took it at the park."

Gwen looked at the picture and drew in her breath as her face whitened. Devlyn couldn't blame her. The resemblance would be enough to question if they were twins separated at birth.

"She's…very beautiful." Gwen cleared her throat and handed the picture back to Devlyn who stuck it back in her pocket.

" _Was_ very beautiful." she corrected.

Gwen's face went from pale to empathetic.

"What happened to her?" she rubbed her back as she began to lose control of her emotions, "Devlyn."

Devlyn broke down and cried and Gwen pulled her into her arms.

"Shhh."

Devlyn hugged her tight and continued to cry for a full three minutes before she calmed down and was only breathing shakily.

"He killed her." she finally whimpered. She felt Gwen stiffen.

"You father?" her tone climbed a bit like she was getting angry though she knew not at her.

Devlyn nodded.

"Yes." she pulled away and wrapped her arms around her rail thin legs, "I don't think he meant to; he was just angry; he was _always_ angry. At me, at Mom…he just…lost it one day and hit her so hard that she fell backwards and her head hit a nearby table, and…that was it. She was dead. All I did was watch. I didn't once try to help her."

Gwen looked at her shocked.

"Devlyn. Surely _you_ don't blame yourself for you mother's death, do you?"

Devlyn shrugged.

"I was always so afraid of him. I was hiding under the table she fell against it."

"How old were you?"

"Eight."

"Devlyn, you can't blame yourself for you father's actions."

"I know, but I could've done _something…_ "

"What?"

"I don't know, but _something._ "

"You probably would've ended up dead as well if you tried, and I'm sure your mother wouldn't have wanted you to. Besides, I like knowing you."

"You do?"

"Yes, we all do. When you're not in the room, you're all that Ken can talk about."

"Really?"

"He considers you his best friend."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"What does…Ben think of me?"

Gwen smiled softly and leaned toward her.

"He thinks you have as good heart and he's glad you came to live with us."

Devlyn looked up in surprise.

"See? Everyone loves you. You're a very lovable girl."

"That's not what my dad said."

"Well, your dad is wrong. I wish he could see that he is." a strange look came into her eyes and she looked away.

"Are you ok, Gwen?"

Gwen smiled sadly and looked at her, and, again, Devlyn saw the ghost of her mother.

"I'm just thinking."

After that, Devlyn began to trust everyone more as well as open up to them, especially Gwen. It might just have been the striking similarities between Gwen and her mother, but Devlyn felt a special connection with her. Gwen in turn, treated her like the daughter she never had. In time, Devlyn learned to trust Ben like she did Gwen and was rewarded with the father she had always wanted but never had. Unlike with Kevin, there was no need to perform for Ben; he just loved an accepted her for who she was. She never saw Ken as a brother per se, but more of a best friend. They told each other everything, never feeling the need to keep anything from each other. They were indivisible at school, at home and everywhere else. People eventually got that they were a package deal. If someone wanted to be friends with one, they had to get the other's approval. And, by high school, if someone wanted to date one of them, they had to undergo an inspection from the other.

It was around this time that Devlyn began to realize her feelings for Ken. At first, she thought that she was just being possessive, selfish and jealous for not wanting him to be with a girl. And, in some sense, she was. Just not for the reasons she thought she was. As time passed, after Ken broke up with his girlfriend, the realization that she loved him dawned on her, and it was a revelation that changed her life.

She was shocked for a whole week, but when it began to wear off, she experienced border-lined panic.

He was _Ken,_ her _foster brother!_ She wasn't supposed to be feeling this way for him! Not to mention she was the daughter of one of his father's worst villains!

She remembered staring into her bedroom mirror on one of the days she had been wrestling with this and told herself to calm down. Maybe she would get over him. It could be just a little crush. After all, why wouldn't she be having feelings for him? All the previous "men in her life" so to speak had been such a turn off that she couldn't see what women saw in them at all. That is until she met Ken and Ben. They were unlike any of the other males she had ever met. Sure, Ken had been a little arrogant and obnoxious when they first met, but, after her father, Ken's lack of maturity had been a walk in the park. Besides, Ken had other attributes that outweighed his faults, such as kindness and empathy that was rare in boys. These attributes only grew with time as his arrogance seemed to fade into the background. By high school, he seemed to have leveled out to an unusually mature 14 year old boy. This high level of maturity, had no doubt been inherited from Gwen. Some girls noticed this, but a lot more were drawn to the school "bad boys", something that Devlyn wanted no part of. She knew it had an allure and an element of danger that intrigued the average person, but for her, it never failed to be a big red flag for her. She had watched her mother pay penance for loving such a man as that the first eight years of her life, and it wasn't worth it.

So it was no wonder that she found herself drawn to someone like Ken, but it would never work. Putting her history and living situation aside, personality and appearance wise, she knew she couldn't attract him.

She was never the type of girl who could handle walking in a mall shopping for new clothes when a tee shirt and a pair of ripped blue jeans at home would suit her just fine for the coming year, and let's not get started on the "m" word: _makeup._

A lot of her friends obsessed over eyeliner, mascara, foundation, lipstick, the whole nine yards. Devlyn didn't feel the need to purchase or use it. Part of it was lack of interest and she just felt it was a waste of time before school to apply all these things, and the other part felt that all the makeup in the world couldn't make her a beauty queen. Even if it did, it wouldn't really look like _her,_ and was just an illusion to fool poor boys.

Devlyn was a skinny rail, which most girls would kill for, except for the fact that she had little-to-no chest going for her. Her one beauty were her bright blue eyes, and they looked odd with her raven black hair which made her look even more odd with her porcelain skin.

It scared and disturbed Devlyn that every time she looked in the mirror that she saw her father staring back at her. Not to the point where she looked masculine, but enough where some of her father's old partners would stop her in the street and ask her if she was related to him.

Bottom line: Ken deserved a blonde model who was feminine in her personality and didn't have a father who had been on the Intergalactic 10 Most Wanted List at one point.

She would always have Ken, though not in the way she now wanted. He deserved much better.

And she could accept that.


	2. Sick Day

Devlyn never got sick.

And yet here she was lying in her bed with a virus she had never had before.

It was kind of like a fever, but also had symptoms of a cold and a flu bug. Gwen had taken her to the doctors and they discovered that it wasn't contagious and it was a virus that only Osmosians could contract. Of course she had her father's genes to thank for this!

Fortunately, it would only last a couple of days then she would be back on her feet going to school again. But, for the time being, Devlyn was left lying in bed, hugging one of her blue cased pillows and clinging to a tissue.

The only upside to this was that it was picture day at school so she would kind of _have_ to skip out on it. Not that she would get away from it for long, but, she could bide her time for a few more days. She never liked how her pictures turned out, she looking enough like a ghost in photographs.

She suddenly heard a rap in her doorway.

She opened her eyes and found Ken standing there holding two brown paper bags. She never failed to think that his black leather jacket, red tee shirt and blue jeans made him look so handsome with his red hair and green eyes. All the girls who had never given him a second glance before _had_ to have noticed him today.

"Hey, Dev," he said with the smile she had long since fallen for, "how you doing?"

She sat up letting go with her pillow.

"So-so." she knew she sounded way worse than so-so, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"It's lunch time and I thought I could sneak out, buy two lunches and eat with my best friend today. It helps that you're not contagious."

"No kidding," she agreed crossing her legs, "What have you got?" the virus hadn't taken away her appetite.

"Two bacon cheeseburgers from the gourmet burger place that you like, a large fries, and a diet root beer since you can't have sugar at the moment."

"Sounds great," she reached for the bag, "thanks."

"I wonder at times how you stay a rail the way you eat." Ken sat down beside her pulling out his own burger.

"I sometimes wonder myself," she took a sip of the root beer.

"I mean, where do you put it all?"

"Beats me," she clicked her cup against his, "Here's to hoping I can taste this."

"Cheers." he did the same and they both drank.

"So…Brady sends his love." Ken smiled and took a fry our of his bag.

Devlyn rolled her eyes.

Brady Roche was one of the most popular boys in school. He also fell into that category of "bad boys" that she tried to stay away from. Even more to the point, he reminded her of a blond hair blue eyed version of her father. Not in looks per se, but in every other way possible. It was scary on how they were so much alike. They both had bad tempers, a love for cars and alien tech, and a nasty habit of conning people. He even had a deep voice to match! She didn't just _get_ red flags from him, he _was_ a big red flag. And yet, he never got the hint that she wanted nothing to do with him. If anything, he had gotten more aggressive in his approaches. Ken might have been smiling now, but he was, in fact, worried about this guy just as much as Devlyn was. If he didn't stop soon, they planned on telling the principle about him.

"What should I tell him, blue?" Ken took a sip of his soda.

Trying to figure out the meaning of her new nickname, Devlyn rolled her eyes again.

"You can tell him to go Null Void and get drained by Darkstar."

"Ouch." Ken laughed, "you really _do_ hate him."

"He just won't leave me alone! I've tried hints, then I tried to be straightforward, and he _still_ thinks I'm on the market to be his one and only!"

"Yeah, well, if _that_ invitation doesn't tell him to leave you alone, I don't know what will. I think I would get the hint if a girl told that to me."

"Not that any girl would."

Ken tilted his head.

"I'd be wondering what I did so wrong to deserve it, buy I'd leave her alone."

"Yes, you would. Ben and Gwen trained you to be a gentleman. Brady on the other hand, I don't know."

"His parents are some of the nicest people in the galaxy."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope; I've met them both."

"Then he's got no excuse."

"Not really, though you of all people know that upbringing doesn't define who you are as you get older."

"True." she grew thoughtful.

"Something on your mind besides your two viruses? Namely your cold and Brady?"

Devlyn laughed at his depiction of her evil wannabe-boyfriend.

"Nope."

Ken suppressed the urge to raise an eyebrow.

 _Nope_? She must not have heard yet. Or, if she did, she didn't want to talk about it, which, in that case, Ken wouldn't press her.

"So…any guy you _don't_ mind being called someone's one and only?"

Devlyn laughed nervously.

"Since when did you become a chic?"

"Ah-ha," Ken gestured his cup in her direction, "so there _is_ someone."

"Who says there is?"

"Your actions," Ken polished off his burger, "You've never been that subtle with me. I've wondered over the last six months if there was someone you were interested in; I'm just glad it's not Brady."

"No kidding." Well, at least she had been subtle in _whom_ she was interested in.

Ken crumpled his wrapper into a ball and shoved it into his bag.

"Well, I've got to get back to school before the next class starts." he stood up, "Feel better soon." he tugged a strand of her black hair, "See you after school."

"Okay. Thanks again for lunch."

"No problem."

"Do I have to pay you?"

Ken reached the door way and turned around.

"Nope. You weren't expecting it and your company is enough. See you later."

"Alright. See you later."

Ken waved and walked out of the door. Despite the fact she had a cold and Brady was breathing down her neck, Devlyn seemed to be her usual self. She _must_ not have heard the news or she'd be uncharacteristically paranoid. She would find out soon enough for herself, whether it would be from his mom or dad or from the man himself.

Her father had been released from the Null Void.


	3. The Bearer of Bad News

Kevin Levin walked through the doors of his favorite alien bar and took a deep breath of satisfaction. It had been years, 6 years to be exact, since he had come here. There had been some changes, but for the most part, it was still the same place he knew and loved.

Everyone sitting down and drinking and laughing suddenly turned to face him and the whole place quieted considerably. The only downside was that the bar still played the pub theme from Star Wars. The owners must've thought that it was so amusing to play that in an alien bar.

But it wasn't.

It really wasn't.

Still, Kevin couldn't help but smile. Everyone knew who he was, and it satisfied him that he still had that kind of effect on people.

Suddenly someone spoke up. Someone he knew very well.

"Kevin!" Argit slid off his stool, "You're out!"

"Didn't think I'd stay in there forever, did you, Argit?" he bent to give the prickly alien a fist-pump.

"I'm not sure; that last crime had me thinking you'd be put away for life!"

"Nothing that a little good behavior couldn't fix. Make the system think I've changed. At least, till I got out of that Phantom Zone."

Argit laughed.

"There's my old Kev!" he raised his glass, "A toast to the release of Kevin Levin! One of the greatest criminals in the galaxy!"

Everyone toasted with smiles. After all, three-fourths of the people in this bar were convicted criminals. The other fourth were aliens who just hadn't gotten caught yet. After the toast, everyone went back to his or her own business.

Argit and Kevin walked over to the bar table and each sat down in a stool.

"Hello, Amelia; I remember you." he smiled at the redhead behind the bar, "I'll have my usual if you still remember what it is."

"Coming right out." Amelia winked at him and walked away to ready his order.

"So, Kevin," Argit took a sip of his drink, "You've just been released from the Null Void. What are you going to do next?"

Kevin rolled his eyes at how Argit had worded the question.

"Well, first I'm going to find my daughter; then it'll be back to business as usual. Thanks, sweetheart." he took the pint from Amelia and winked at her. Amelia blushed and walked away.

Argit, for once, looked serious.

"Off subject, I know, but you've always had a thing for redheads, haven't you? Ever since that Tennyson girl. Heck, you even married someone who looked like she could've be Gwen Tennyson's twin!"

Kevin shrugged.

"Yeah, well, after her, I just realized redheads were my type."

"If you say so." Argit took a sip of his drink.

"Anyway, coming back to Devlyn: is she in the system or something? Have you heard anything about her?"

Argit set his glass down.

"Yeah…but before I tell you anything let me ask you this: are you sure it's a good idea to try and work with your daughter? I mean, after all, she _did_ help Ben Tennyson put you away last time."

Kevin smiled.

"Please. I know Devlyn. Her greatest weakness is that she craves my attention. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her to work with me again."

Argit snorted.

"You _have_ been away for a long time!"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I've run into her on the streets before and offered her job in the past. You know what she said? She says she's not into the criminal business, and I quote, 'like my father before me'."

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…it might take some more convincing, but is that all the information you have on her?"

"Heh, heh, _nope._ But you're not going to like it."

"Oh?" Kevin raised a dark eyebrow.

"Yeah…about where she is…um…after you, uh…were put away by you-know-who, guess what you-know-who did."

" _What?_ " Kevin's voice started to climb as an idea of what happened started to take form in the back of his mind. And no, he _didn't_ like it.

"Well, it seems as if Tennyson junior and Devlyn…er, _bonded_ during the little adventure of putting you in the Null Void. So…uh…" Kevin started tapping his indext finger on the table urging him to continue, "Ben, uh, _might have_ , er, _taken her in_? Heh." Argit gave Kevin a nervous smile.

" _WHAT!?_ " Kevin stood up towering over Argit and the bar grew quiet again, save the wretched, Star Wars pub music. Where _was_ that radio anyway? Never had Kevin wanted to rip it out of whatever shelf it sat on before so bad.

Argit began to titter nervously as he cowered against his seat.

"He-he-hey! D-d-don't me mad at _me_. I-I-I-I'm just the bearer of bad news! It's not like I recommended the family to her anything!"

Kevin channeled his anger, and sat back down. He took a deep breath as did the rest of the bar. Maybe they didn't have to clear out after all.

"Are you _sure_ the Tennysons took her in, and you just didn't see Ben walk away with her to, _I don't know_ , put her in foster care?"

"Yeah, I swear, I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't 100% sure, _believe me._ " he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a laminated news article and handed it to Kevin, as if he knew they would have had this conversation some day.

"What's this?" Kevin took the article.

Argit took a sip of his beer.

"Proof." he set the glass down, "This happened just last month."

Kevin looked at the picture as his eyebrows shot up.

"No way," he said, "No way is this Devlyn."

Argit laughed.

"Um, _yeah_ that's Devlyn. Can't you tell, man? She looks just like you, save the blue eyes."

"Since when did my ugly rat of a daughter become a beauty queen?" Kevin muttered under his breath as he scanned the article.

Argit raised an eyebrow. He was a hardened criminal and even _he_ thought Kevin was a little harsh toward his daughter.

"Oh, _come on,_ man!" Kevin exclaimed throwing the article down on the bar next to his pint, " _'Ken Tennyson and Devlyn Levin raise funds for leukemia_ '? Since when did she buy into all that do-good-for-other stuff?"

"I think she's always been that way," Argit said taking a sip, "She only got you out the first time because she wanted her daddy, not because she wanted to be evil. In case you haven't figured out, she's nothing like you, Kev."

Kevin shot a glare of ice toward his companion and Argit suddenly found the floor very interesting.

"You can't deny that's her in the picture, though," he said forcing himself to look up at his old partner.

"No, I can't," Kevin grumbled looking back down at the article, "and that's definitely Ben's spawn with his mother's red hair. Looks better than his dad did on his best days." Kevin took a sip of beer thoughtfully planning his next moves.

"Well, like it or not, I'm going to see her. Maybe she's scamming them and not really thinking them as her family, but as her meal ticket."

Argit raised an eyebrow. He seriously doubted it, but decided to let Kevin figure it out for himself. If there was one thing he had learned about his man over the years was that once he got something into his head, he wasn't going to back down on it till it was out of his system.

Maybe seeing Devlyn would be just the wake-up call he needed.

 **So I'd thought I'd give a fic on Kevin's reaction to his daughter's new living arrangements. I originally going to use Linkin Park's** _ **Don't Stay,**_ **but thought that the Star Wars pub theme would be funnier.**

 **Please review and comment. Please not foul language and/or character basing.**


	4. The Revealing

**Hey, thanks for the reviews!**

 **FullmetalDeadman93: Yeah, you know it's pretty bad when ARGIT of all people seems to be able to see what Kevin doesn't.**

"Hey-hey-hey!"

Devlyn didn't even try to suppress the growl she made as she laid on her bed her face covered with her pillow.

"Brady." she said his name like he was pond scum that she had to handle without gloves.

She took her pillow off of her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Ken told me the other day that you were sick so I thought you could use a little company." he leaned in the doorway giving her his trademarked leery smile.

"Is that _all_ Ken told you?" Devlyn couldn't imagine that he would leave out what she told him to say to Brady.

Brady paused as if he were thinking.

"Um, he said something about Darkstar and the Null Void but I didn't see how those two connected with you being sick so I tuned it out."

"That's it!"

Devlyn suddenly sprang up as if her bed had caught on fire looking for something, _anything_ to absorb so she could sucker punch him. She was generally a patient girl, but her long fuse ended at Brady Roche. She was finally going to explode. She had been sick for three days, picture day was on the horizon the moment she set her foot back on the high school property, not to mention all the homework she would have to make up for. And now, Brady had the audacity to show up at _her_ house standing in _her_ bedroom doorway. Could her week get any worse?

Settling on her bed post, she absorbed the wood up to her elbow and walked to stand in front of her version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

"I told Ken to tell you to go to the Null Void and get drained by Darkstar!"

"Ahhhh…." Brady said as if it just finally dawned on him. He suddenly looked thoughtful.

"Is that even possible?" he asked, "I mean I'd have to know someone to visit and since I don't know Darkstar personally, I don't see how…"

"Are you _that_ dense? _Just…leave,_ " Devlyn pinched the bridge of her nose with the hand that wasn't wood, "Now. I will punch you if you don't."

"You know, you're so cute when you're mad." his leery smile returned and was rewarded with a right hook.

"OW! What the heck, Devlyn?" he cradled his jaw that thankfully hadn't broken being that he had some level of super strength.

"I warned you. Now get." she said the last two words between clenched teeth.

"You know? You should feel lucky that I've even taken an interest you."

" _LUCKY!?_ "Devlyn started tapping her foot furious that he hadn't walked away like she told him to.

"Yeah, I mean, your dad's a criminal, am I right?"

" _Oh_ no! Do _not_ bring _him_ into this!"

"What's going on?" Ken appeared behind Roche, "Brady? What are you doing here?"

"I was just here to cheer your sister up." Brady turned around and leaned his back against the doorway, "Guess she's not all that found of company."

"Brady…just leave." Ken said sounding 100 times more calmer than Devlyn, "Did anything I say get to you the other day?"

"Kinda tuned it out."

Ken gave an exasperated sigh.

"Well, you're obviously not welcomed here, so there's no point in staying."

"Yeah, no kidding." Brady took his back off the doorway and glared at Devlyn, "See you around, Levin." he started to leave then turned around.

"You know," he said, "I don't know _what_ you have against me! Am I too much like your father for your taste or comfort? Well, we could've been the perfect pair because statically, girls tend to marry guys like their dads!"

"Mr. Roche?" Ben asked appearing out of nowhere.

"WHAT?!" Brady turned and yelled at Ben, "It's not like she's your actual daughter or anything like that!"

Ben narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at Ken. They both nodded in synch.

 _FIVE MINUTES LATER…._

"AHHHH!" Brady flew out of the house Ben closing the door behind him.

"There," Ben said turning around to face Ken and Devlyn, "I don't think he'll be coming around anymore. If he does, he's an idiot who needs a restraining order."

"Thanks, Dad," Devlyn smiled and hugged him. She used "Dad," and "Ben" interchangeably for him because, truth be told, he was more of a father than hers ever was to her.

"No problem, honey. Thanks for helping me drag him out, Ken."

"Anytime," Ken winked at Devlyn, "I'd been wanting to do something of the like for a long time now."

"I'm just glad he's gone." Devlyn pulled away and hugged Ken. He held her tight and Ben raised an eyebrow in their direction. They seemed…comfortable.

"Anyway," Devlyn pulled away from him, "I'm going to take a shower. A long one. A cold one if I can handle it."

"Good idea," Ken said, "I think you need it."

30 minutes later, Devlyn emerged from the bathroom still drying her black hair and walked down the stairs. Being that she had no shoes on, Ben, Gwen and Ken probably didn't hear her. If they did, they probably would've stopped talking.

"You know, we should probably tell her," she heard Ben say. Devlyn stopped on the staircase and listened, "He's probably going to come after her anyway, so why try to hide the fact? Plus, what if she finds out we knew all along and didn't tell her?"

Who were they talking about? Brady? Devlyn scrunched her eyebrows.

"How about I tell her?" Ken asked.

"She should probably hear it from us," Gwen answered.

Devlyn decided to walk in the kitchen.

"Tell me what?" she draped the towel over her shoulders, "Who might come after me?"

Ben, Gwen and Ken all looked at her.

"Well, um," Ben stuttered rubbing the back of his neck. He looked at Gwen who nodded.

"Devlyn," he started, "A few days ago, the Director of the Null Void gave me a call."

Devlyn felt her blood run cold. This couldn't be good.

"Being that you're our foster daughter, they thought we should know that, um, your father has been released."

Devlyn felt the blood drain from her face.

"What?" she heard herself squeak, "My father's…out?"

Maybe she should've have thought on how her week couldn't have gotten any worse, because it just did. A whole lot worse.

 **And…she knows now! It was about time anyway. I didn't originally make Brady a character that you would want to scream "SHUT UP!" at the screen but I think I just accomplished that.**

 **Anyway, please review and comment and no foul language and/or character bashing…unless if it's Brady or Kevin.**


	5. Fear

**Hey, guys, I know it's been while, but I'm back with a new chapter, and before I start, I feel the need to address a couple of things before I continue.**

 **In this chapter the daughter of two Ben 10 characters is going to be shown and the son of another is going to be mentioned. I'm bringing this up because their parents are minor (but likable) characters, so I'm refreshing your memory just in case you don't remember them.**

 **Manny Armstrong and Helen Wheels (introduced in the Alien Force episode** _ **Plumber's Helper)**_ **gets married and have a daughter that's going to be introduced in this chapter. I know in the series, they don't have this ability, but hey, it's my imagination, I can do what I want! I'm giving them the ability to change their forms from alien to human at will, one of the reasons being that it'll make their lives a whole lot easier. Manny's human form I imagine as a big strapping African/American guy who stands about 6 ft. 5 and Helen's as a pretty woman with black hair and violet eyes. Their daughter looks somewhere in between with African/American coloring, hair and eyes but looks a lot like her mom otherwise. Her alien form is a red version of XLR8.**

 **Alright, now that's out of the way, onto addressing Cooper Daniels son. Cooper, if you don't remember was introduced in the original series as a blond telekinetic kid who if you watched the movie Sky High, would be classified as a "techno-path" because of his ability to work with technology the way he did. You might also remember he had a huge crush on Gwen in the Alien Force/Ultimate Alien series. I'm not sure about Omniverse, but I don't acknowledge it, no offense to those who like the series.**

 **Anyway, Cooper's son will be mentioned though not shown; you'll know by the last name who he is.**

 **Thanks for reading this long introduction! Now on with the story!**

 **Roll film!**

* * *

"Devlyn, time to get ready for school," Ken rapped his knuckles against his foster sister's bedroom door.

No answer.

"Devlyn?"

Still no answer.

Ken knew he shouldn't, but he decided to open the door anyway.

"Devlyn?"

She was under the blue cover curled up in a ball. Was she still sleeping?

He gently shook what he assumed was her back.

"Devlyn, time to get up."

"Please go away." She whimpered pitifully.

Ken felt his heart melt toward her. She had been borderline paranoid since she had heard the news. He sat down next to the lump and sighed.

"Dev, you can't spend your life hiding under a blanket from him."

"I know; I just thought when he was sent back to the Null Void that last time, it would be for good. How did he get out? He should've stayed there. There were enough crimes stacked against from the time he was eleven years old. _Eleven years old!_ How is it _possible_ that he's out and about _right now_ like he never did anything!"

"Probably good behavior, Devlyn; criminals play the system like that, and your dad's the best at the best at it."

"It figures." Devlyn sat up and took the blanket off of her face but made a hood and tucked the blanket under her chin. Ken felt even more bad actually seeing her like this. She looked like a frightened child who didn't have any sleep the night before.

"I never want to be under his control again." she leaned her head against his shoulder and Ken wrapped his arm around her.

"Well, you can start by getting ready for school and not let the fear of him dominate your life." He tugged the blanket off of her head exposing messy black hair, "And dress up nice; it's picture day." She crinkled her nose in distaste and Ken laughed softly.

"There's my girl."

Devlyn blushed and Ken wondered briefly at it.

"Well," he got up, "there _is_ an upside to this day; I doubt Brady will bother you."

He left the room closing the door behind him so she could get dressed.

When she came down the stairs and into the kitchen where Ken was eating a bowl of cereal, he had to stop eating and stare.

Devlyn had brushed her hair until her blue-black tresses shone and she wore a blue and black blouse that tied in the back, and the only pair of jeans that didn't have rips at the knees. The only thing that she wore that she usually worse were her black and white sneakers. She was _beautiful,_ no, _gorgeous._

Devlyn tilted her head to the side with a small smile.

"What?"

He cleared his throat.

"Um, nothing." he spooned some of his cereal, "Nothing at all."

She nodded slowly.

"Okay…" she made her own breakfast and sat down.

"You look nice." Ken said stealing one quick glance.

She smiled.

"Thank-you."

Ken swallowed hard and continued to eat his breakfast.

* * *

A few hours later, Devlyn walked out of the photo room rubbing her eyes.

"How many pictures do they need of me?" she asked Ken who was leaning on the wall next to the room. She still couldn't see him clearly.

"Maybe they couldn't get enough of you?" Ken answered playfully.

"Right."

"Hey, Dev; nice to see that you're feeling better."

She and Ken turned around to see Helena Armstrong holding some of her text books.

"Thanks," Devlyn hugged her and Helena hugged back.

"I normally wouldn't ask this, but is something going on between you and Brady?" Helena looked curious.

"Why?"

" 'Cause he wouldn't stop glaring at you during science, which is strange because he usually wants to get your attention. Was it just me?"

Both Devlyn and Ken sighed.

"It's a long story, but Brady finally got the message that Devlyn wants nothing to do with him."

"About time."

"No kidding."

Helena suddenly looked hesitant.

"Hey, guys, do you know of anybody who needs someone to go to the dance with next Saturday? Anybody that my dad would approve of?"

Her father, Manny, had a high level of what Ken called OPFS: Overprotective Father Syndrome. In his eyes, a guy had to go through an interview with him in his office (that was littered with high-powered alien guns by the way) before he could go out with _his_ princess.

Ken shrugged.

"I could go with you."

Helena blinked.

"Really?"

Devlyn felt her heart sink. Ken knew that Manny wouldn't mind if she were to go with him. After all, they had known each other before Devlyn was even in the picture.

"Yeah, sure. Unless you want to run Brady through him."

Helena laughed humorlessly.

"Now there's an idea." she seemed to actually consider it.

"Devlyn and I could come and pop some popcorn." Ken smiled and Helena laughed.

"Yeah, but I'd still be dateless; thanks, Ken." she looked toward Devlyn, "You okay?"

"Huh?" she cleared her throat, "Yeah. I wonder who I'll go with."

"Really? You want to go to the dance?" Helena blinked in surprise.

Devlyn tried to seem nonchalant by shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I'll go this time. It's country themed right? I won't have to dress up anymore than I already am at the moment."

Helena smiled.

"Then you're in luck, Devlyn Levin; I know of at least _6_ guys who would want to go with you besides Brady."

Devlyn wondered if she heard that correctly.

"What? No way."

" _Yes_ way! For starters, my cousin is saying all the time about how he'll get the courage to ask you out someday."

"Really? Pietro?"

"Yup. That's one. Stephen Daniels is another."

"Really?"

"Stop saying 'really'; I'd never lie to you, Dev. I'll just list the rest here and now: Lance Newt, Fin Lark, Cade Eaton and Andrew Jackson." **(A/N Heh, heh; anyone catch what I just did there?)**

Ken raised his eyebrows.

"Looks like you have your pick of the litter, Devlyn. Whose hearts are you going to break by picking one of them?"

Devlyn blinked as she tried to process the information.

"I'm…not sure yet; I need time to think."

"I would too," Helena agreed, "Personally I would pick Stephen Daniels but that's just me; he's such a gentleman. His father taught him well."

"Then why don't you go with him?" Devlyn asked, "I mean, I'm sure he'll pass the rigorous dad test."

Helena shrugged.

"He's not interested in me. Do you have any idea what it's like to go with a guy on what appears like a date when you know he's interested in someone else?"

"I wouldn't know, but I have to imagine it's painful."

Helena nodded.

"Yeah…" she looked away. Ken looked sympathetic then looked at his cell phone watch.

"I have to go to history now. Catch you girls later."

"Alright."

He adjusted his backpack strap on his shoulder and walked away.

Devlyn watched him walk away and then looked at Helena to find her looking at her. She seemed…intrigued.

"What?"

"Are you okay with me going to the dance with Ken? 'Cause you don't seem like it."

Helena had always been perceptive. She took after her mom in that department.

Devlyn laughed nervously.

"You can go with him."

"That's not what I asked." she raised an eyebrow.

There was no way out of this one, but maybe she could tell Helena in part without telling in whole.

"It has nothing to do with you, actually. If Ken were to go with anyone, I would rather her be you."

Helena studied her for a moment. Then a slow smile spread across her face.

" 'Anyone' or 'anyone else'?"

"Huh?"

"You said, 'if Ken were to with anyone you would rather it be me'. Is it really 'if Ken were to go with anyone else besides you it would rather be me'?"

Devlyn felt her face heat up. She knew Helena was perceptive but she didn't expect her to be _this_ perceptive! She cupped her cheek and looked away.

"How did you…" she looked around then lowered her voice to a whisper. "How did you know?"

Helena smiled.

"I had always wondered. You guys have always been so close, it seemed to transcend past brother and sister or even best friends. I started really suspecting it a few years ago when Ken went out with Sadie Royce. You weren't yourself. You were acting just like a girl did when she lost her chance to be with the guy she loved."

"Am I that transparent?"

"No, because I was the only one who picked it up. My dad's right, I should go into criminal justice."

Devlyn laughed.

"You would be really good at it."

The two girls were silent for a moment.

"So…I know this is a rhetorical question but are you going to tell him?"

Devlyn's eyebrows shot up at the suggestion.

"Didn't think so."

Another moment of silence past before Devlyn spoke.

"Do you think that Ken…feels the same way?"

Helena thought for a moment.

"I don't know; Ken is a really hard guy to read. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he can be quieter than most guys, he's just really hard to read. If he does then he doesn't know it yet, but, hey; a guy like Ken won't be available forever so you might not want to wait too long or else you'll lose him forever." she looked at her cell phone, "I have to go to track right now."

Devlyn smiled.

"Don't beat them too bad."

"I'll try to remember I have a very unfair advantage." Helena smiled before she walked away to leave Devlyn to ponder on her words for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Don't worry; he won't come for you."

Devlyn turned her head to see Ken smile on his hover-board. She smiled back because he thought she was thinking about Kevin.

"What makes you say that?"

"I think if he were, he would've come for you by now. I mean, it's not like we're that hard to find."

Devlyn tilted her head.

"True."

The two teenagers pulled into the driveway of their house and got off of their hover-boards then turned them off.

"What do you think your mom has planned for dinner?" Devlyn asked as they walked up the stairs.

"I think she has tacos planned."

"Sounds good to me." Devlyn's smile suddenly disappeared as Ken opened the front door. She suddenly felt…strange. As if she were being watched. She turned her head to look behind her and saw nothing out of place.

"Something wrong?" Devlyn turned back to see Ken looking at her concerned.

"I, uh…" she laughed nervously, "I just had the feeling I was being watched that's all."

Ken smiled than wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Like I said, he probably won't come for you," he tugged a lock of her hair a couple of times before walking through the door.

Devlyn smiled but looked behind her one last time before following him.

* * *

Argit had been right.

Kevin lowered his binoculars as he watched the younger Tennyson tug on his daughter's hair. He watched again as her eyes sparkled as Ken pulled away. He frowned. _That_ wasn't the reaction of brother-to-sister interaction. Not even best friends. He observed the way she looked at Ken and smiled at him.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." he muttered as he put the binoculars in his glove box. He couldn't read into it _too_ much; after all, it had been only one observation. But if he had been right, then pulling Devlyn away from the Tennysons would be even more harder than he had originally thought.

 **So, I know Kevin and Devlyn didn't have an interaction but I felt that this time filler was necessary, though maybe a little boring. Anyway, please review and comment again, please no character bashing and/or foul language.**


	6. The Meeting

**Hey, guys! Kudos to whoever got what I did with the names of the majority of the boys' names in the last chapter! If you look, they are, or resemble the last names of YA Novel protagonists.**

 **Lance Newt: "Newt" from** _ **The Maze Runner**_ **trilogy by James Dashner**

 **Fin Lark: This one was divided between two characters; Finnick Odair and Peeta Mellark from Suzanne Collins'** _ **The Hunger Games**_ **trilogy**

 **Cade Eaton: Tobias Eaton from the** _ **Divergent**_ **trilogy by Veronica Roth**

 **Andrew Jackson: Percy Jackson from Rick Riordan's** _ **Percy Jackson**_ **series. I picked an 'A' name on purpose to match his name a little with Percy's love interest Annabeth Chase.**

A few days later, Devlyn checked a few books out at the Bellwood Public Library, one of which she couldn't wait to get started on. Helena had said that she would like the Maze Runner and Helena was always intuitive of things like these.

As she zipped up her backpack, her thoughts turned to other things. The dance was only four days away and she still didn't know who she wanted to go with. Well, she knew, but also knew that she couldn't so she was thinking of who she would want to go with besides Ken.

She was leaning towards Stephen Daniels, but Pietro Wheels wasn't a bad choice either. She cringed because it sounded like she was trying to figure out which pants she was going to wear for the day, and boys weren't clothes; they were good people with feelings and Devlyn didn't want to give the wrong impression because she was told these boys liked her.

As she slung her backpack onto her shoulder she thought of her father. So far he hadn't called or shown up at the house so maybe Ken was right and that he didn't plan on coming for her at all. Maybe he figured she didn't want anything to do with him and it was easier to just leave her alone. If that was the case, Devlyn was happy and she could go on with her life without any fear of _him_ trying to mess with her life.

Still…no news was just as unsettling as bad news.

She walked out of the library and looked at the night sky. She loved how the stars dotted and her thoughts drifted to deeper things like how her ancestors came from there and what it was like to live there.

"Hey, Devlyn; long time no see."

Her blood froze. Her heart began to pick up speed as she started to hyperventilate.

She knew that voice. It had been five years but there was no mistaking that voice. The voice that still haunted her nightmares at times.

She turned her head to see him leaning on one of the lit lamppost.

"Dad?"

Kevin looked at her, a wicked, almost smug smile playing on his face.

"Devlyn."

She felt the ground shift beneath her feet and she felt as if she were going to pass out.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? To see you. What else would I want from you?"

Devlyn felt the ground stabilize as indignation flashed through her veins.

"Gee, I don't know, maybe you want me to rob a bank or do a job for you?"

Kevin scoffed.

"What? Why in the world would I want you to-" Devlyn raised an eyebrow and Kevin stopped, "Okay, maybe I wanted to see if you wanted to leave the Tennysons and come live with me. And maybe do a couple of jobs here and there."

"I knew it." Devlyn muttered.

"What? You don't want that?"

"In case if you haven't figured it out by now just from my living arrangements, I don't want anything to do with the criminal life."

"I thought maybe you were just using them as a meal ticket. I mean, sure it beats the foster care system."

"Nope. They're my family."

"And I'm not?"

"Only by blood."

Kevin raised and eyebrow.

"I see."

"So, you can just skip to whatever town it is you want to live in at the moment without me 'cause I'm not interested."

"Harsh way to greet your old man."

"Well, I mean it; It's not like I told you to go back to the Null Void and get drained by Darkstar. How'd you get out of the Null Void anyway?" She was trying to cover up how frightened she was of him. How ironic it was that her greatest fear was one of the very reasons she was alive.

"Good behavior." she could hear the smile in his voice.

"You? Good behavior?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Devlyn; I can be good if it depends on my freedom."

Ken was right; Kevin had played the system.

So…life's good?"

If it was information he was trying to get out of her for some reason, he wasn't going to get it from her except the basics that everyone knew.

"Mhmm."

"Have a boyfriend?"

"Why would I tell you that?"

"So you do."

"No, actually, I don't."

"Really? I'd almost think you would have half-a-dozen guys nipping at your heels; you're finally starting to look a little like your mom."

 _Your mom._

He said it so casually; as if he had nothing to do with her death when he in fact had everything to do with her death. The faded picture she kept glued on the inside back of her diary flashed through her mind, which brought up a question that she had always told herself she would ask if she were to ever come across Kevin again.

"Dad, about Mom, there's something I want to ask you about."

A moment of silence passed between them as Kevin seemed to be processing the question.

"Okay; shoot."

Devlyn swallowed hard. It still hurt to talk about her.

"She was gorgeous. Long red hair, porcelain skin, a perfect figure and that _smile_ …"

"Okay…" Kevin sounded confused, "What are you getting at?"

Devlyn gather her courage. She might regret asking this, but she would always be left wondering what the answer would be if she didn't. She took a deep breath.

"She looks like Gwen Tennyson; _disturbingly_ so. Is that a coincidence?"

 _Please, please, let it be…_

Devlyn could vaguely see Kevin's eyebrows shoot up in the lamppost light.

"Alright, _how_ long have you been living with the Tennysons again?"

"5 years."

"And…they never told you."

"Told me what?" But she already knew. Deep down she already knew no matter how impossible it seemed.

Kevin chuckled humorlessly.

"Those two never fail to amaze me."

"Dad."

"Alright. So maybe they never told you, but maybe Gwen and I were an item back when we were…how old are you now? 14?"

"16."

"Alright; about your age then."

Devlyn felt her eyes widen.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"What?"

"You def? I said-"

"I heard you, I'm just trying to _think._ " she placed her hand on her forehead and blinked a few times.

"Can't blame you there."

Devlyn looked back up at her father and saw that he had a smug smile on his face. He _enjoyed_ telling her this. Maybe he would relish in telling her the whole story. As if she weren't going to ask anyway!

"But…why? Oh man, _how_?"

Kevin chuckled.

"Don't ask me, ask your new mom. But if you want the basics, here they are: I ran into her and that adopted cousin of hers one night probably about 20 years ago. I was dealing some level 7 alien tech and Gwen and Ben along with someone else were there to stop it, though they didn't know it was me at the time.

"They attack me, the Forever Knights, who were receiving my deal, got away with my cash and I needed to get it back, so I made the deal with them: I give them information, I get my money back. But when all was said and done, I decided to stick around. Hot chic, okay gig? Sure, I'll try the straight and narrow. But you know what? It was _boring._ The only upside happened when Gwen started to go out with me 6 months later, and even then, that was only temporary because despite the fact that she was hot and wanted to go out with me, she was too straight-laced for my taste. Besides, everything in her life had a straight line back to Ben. I knew Gwen loved him before she did. So, I stabbed them in the back one last time and never looked back. She was in love with someone else anyway, so we both got what we wanted in the end. Does that answer your question?"

Devlyn nodded still trying to process it.

 _Did he ever get over her?_ She wondered before Kevin pulled her out of her thoughts.

"So, imagine my surprise when I heard that they took you in; I thought they would rather leave in the foster care system."

"Well they didn't; Ken and I bonded so no one minded me living with them."

Kevin smiled.

"Yes. Ken. Looks a lot like his old man did with red hair. You sure you don't have a boyfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"I've been watching you these last few days, Devlyn, and if I didn't know any better, you're head over heels for him, which is pretty funny when you stop and think about how I had thing for his mom."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't decided that yet. But if you think for one second he's going to look at you the way Ben looks at Gwen, you're hoping too much. After all, you may be living with them, but you're still my daughter. I don't see how Ken's ever going to see you anything besides that."

Devlyn didn't know how Kevin could so accurately voice every single fear she had when he hadn't seen her in years, but she tried not to let it get to her.

"Well he does. And who says I have a thing for him?"

Kevin laughed.

"You do. Without even saying a word."

Devlyn didn't have an answer for that; she just hoped Ken wouldn't have to pay for how she felt about him.

"Well," Kevin said, "I'll be around for a little longer in case you change your mind. I'll come and get you in a few days; I know where you live so don't try and contact me."

"And if I don't want to come with you?"

Kevin shrugged.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes. See you around, Devlyn." he pushed himself off of the lamppost and walked to a car that Devlyn just then noticed. He got in the driver's seat and drove away.

The moment he was out of sight, Devlyn collapsed trembling. She wouldn't go with him, she already knew that; she just hope her family wouldn't have to pay for her decision.


	7. May I

_May I hold you_

 _As you fall to sleep_

 _When the world is closing in_

 _And you can't breathe?_

Trading Yesterday _-May I_

* * *

Call it mother's intuition, but something was wrong with Devlyn; Gwen just knew it. She was quieter than usual at dinner and her mind seemed to be in two different worlds. She barely ate when her favorite dish was served and her responses to Ken's jokes were only half-hearted when she was usually laughing till her sides hurt.

She had glances at Ben during dinner to make sure she wasn't the only one who noticed this and saw her husband give their foster daughter a quizzed look and Ken looked concerned. Maybe she was worried about Kevin showing up at their house which he hadn't so far. Gwen had been surprised because of how possessive he tended to be in his nature. Even if he didn't care two cents what happened to his daughter, she was still his daughter and darn it, he would have his daughter back with him even if she had to be dragged back kicking and screaming.

What a bullet Gwen had dodged.

Looking back, she wasn't sure what she had ever seen in Kevin Ethan Levin except that he was good looking and she had been going through the good-girl-can-make-a-bad-boy-good phase, which was bogus; you can't change a person if they don't see that they need to change, and Kevin to this day still belonged to that category. She understood and even shared some of Devlyn's anxiety; she had been on the receiving end of Kevin's wrath before.

But still, Devlyn had seemed to have been getting over her fear of him coming for her up until today…what had changed?

A chill came over Gwen and she stopped brushing her hair. He hadn't shown up at the house, but had he shown up to her somewhere else? The library maybe? Had he been spying on her up until recently?

She set her hairbrush down and looked out of her bedroom window and saw nothing out of place; just the usual lamp lit road and darkened cars outside of their owners' homes. Still, she closed the curtains, sat down on her bed and did some more thinking.

There was nothing Kevin loved more than a good argument so that's why she and Ben kept thinking he would show up at the house to fight to get Devlyn back, but maybe that wasn't the case this time. Kevin might be a hothead, but he was also a calculating hothead. Perhaps he had shown up to her at a public place when she, Ben or Ken weren't around and threatened her. Or them.

"Thinking about Devlyn?"

Gwen looked up to see her husband sit down next to her. She nodded.

"She was awfully quiet at dinner."

Ben nodded thoughtfully and rubbed her back.

"I noticed."

"So did Ken."

"She's probably worried about Kevin. Sometimes the waiting is worse than the happening."

"But she was getting over that fear up until recently. What if he showed up to her at the library when she went earlier this evening?"

"Do you think he did?"

"I don't know; it was the only time since she found out that she had been completely alone in a public place so it would be the perfect opportunity to threaten her without either one of us stopping him."

Ben considered this.

"You've got a point." He admitted. He covered his mouth thoughtfully. "Maybe we should ask her."

"She turned in early."

"Okay, something's _definitely_ up; she usually stays up until midnight. _Especially_ if she finds new reading material."

"Exactly."

"We'll ask her tomorrow. First chance we get; even if it's before she takes off for school."

"Sounds good to me."

Both were silent for a moment as each was wrapped up in his or her own thoughts.

"You know," Ben finally spoke, "Devlyn's abnormal behavior could be something more basic."

Gwen scrunched her eyebrows together.

"What else in her life could cause her to be this depressed or anxious?"

"Well last I heard, Ken is going with Helena Armstrong to the next school dance."

Now Gwen was even more confused.

"What does that have to do with anything? Devlyn doesn't even like those kind of things."

"No…not dances."

Gwen was feeling more and more lost by the moment.

"A boy she might like at school?"

"Not at school."

Bewildered, Gwen knew Ben was getting at something so she thought about it for a moment.

And then it dawned on her.

"You think Devlyn's developed feelings for Ken?"

Ben tilted his head knowingly.

"I'm not sure, but I've been…catching things lately between the two of them that haven't been so platonic."

Wait, what?

"Such as…." Gwen willed herself to keep calm and not think about the fact that their rooms were only three feet apart.

"Oh, the way Devlyn looks at Ken when no one's looking or she thinks no one is. They've been more physical lately as well."

Gwen's eyebrows shot up.

"Not in an inappropriate way, mind you! It's just there and I've been catching it."

Dumbfounded Gwen felt her jaw drop.

"And how have I been missing this?"

Ben shrugged.

"I don't know; maybe you've always been too caught up in the fact that you finally had a daughter to think too much of what could happen by the time they grew into teenagers."

Gwen tilted her head in agreement.

"Hmm. So you think Devlyn's depressive attitude has something to do with Ken going to the dance with Helena?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure. But, I will say, that she's acting just like I did when you went to that dance with Kevin." **(A/N Let's just say for the sake of the story that Kevin and Gwen actually did make it to that dance and Ben wasn't having issues with his Omnitrix.)**

Gwen smiled and rested her hand on her fist.

"Really?"

"Yeah, after you went to that dance, I sat home depressed and watched equally depressing movies. Not by choice, but whatever was on just happened to take depressing turns no matter what channel I turned to. And that was before my parents installed Netflix so I didn't have too many options available to me that night."

"But…you gave Kevin advice and everything; you even helped him get a tux."

"Yeah, why did you think I had that tux on hand? _Besides_ the fact that it belonged to Grandpa Max."

Gwen blinked as what he implied got through to her.

"Wait… _you_ wanted to go to that dance with me?"

"Yeah, but you asked Kevin before I could ask you; besides, he seemed to make you happy so I decided to give him a chance. I still didn't trust him as far as I could throw him as Gray Matter, though."

"You didn't go on a date with Julie?"

"Well…that _may_ have been the night I broke up with her?"

"….I'm only learning about all this now why?"

Ben shrugged.

"It never came up."

"Wow." Gwen become thoughtful then smiled as she leaned into his shoulder; Ben put an arm around her. "Looking back, I would've taken you over Kevin in a heartbeat."

Ben chuckled.

"Well, I would _hope_ you would say that now." He kissed the top of her dark red head.

"No, seriously. I was saying that by the time the dance was through. I never told you this but he made a horrible dance date."

"You mean he couldn't dance?"

"No; actually, he was a really great dancer. But was rude to everyone on purpose.

"I know that's how he was usually, but he was worse that night. Let's just say that by the time he dropped me off I was thinking on how you would have made a better partner."

"For real?"

"Yep. You wouldn't have liked all the preppy stuff that was going on there but you wouldn't have retaliated by being rude; you would have been very pleasant. And you're not a bad dancer either."

"Well, I had a pretty good teacher."

"I still remember teaching you. Man, if only our younger selves knew then what we did now."

Ben threw his head back and laughed.

"What?" Gwen smiled as her husband covered his eyes, "What's so funny?"

"I was just imaging your younger self's reaction to you dating Kevin _never mind_ the fact that you and I are married!" He continued to laugh.

Gwen covered her eyes.

"Oh, you're right."

"She would've thought you lost you marbles."

"And she would have every right to."

"Yeah, no kidding; especially looking on how he's turned out."

Both became serious again as they pondered on that last statement.

"Well," Ben rested his chin on her head, "I'm turning in now; I'll let you know what Devlyn's response is if I catch her first in the morning."

Gwen looked up at him.

"Alright."

"You staying up a little bit longer?"

"Mhmm."

"Alright." He leaned down and kissed her. "I love you."

"Love you too."

As Ben pulled the covers onto himself, Gwen's mind was racing. As she often had over the years of having Devlyn live with them, her thoughts turned to the photo that she had shown her of Devlyn's mother. It still made Gwen shudder.

Why did that woman look so much like her?

* * *

Gwen woke up in the dead of the night with a start.

She felt the weight of Ben's arm around her waist and her eyes found the alarm clock on her nightstand. 3:09AM. What had woken her up?

The sound of whimpering through the halls caught her ears and she sat up.

Devlyn.

Gently lifting Ben's arm and laying it on the sheets next to her, Gwen quietly got out of bed and tip-toed quickly out of the room and into the hallway.

As she neared her foster daughter's room, the whimpering grew louder but she also heard her son's voice in the same room.

"Devlyn, wake up; whatever it is, it's not real. Devlyn?"

Gwen slowed down then peeked into Devlyn's room. The moonlight shone on her bed where Ken was holding Devlyn in his arms gently trying to wake her up by rocking her back and forth. Gwen decided to stay a fly on the wall for a moment more to see what would happen.

Ken got a little more forceful and shook her hard.

"Devlyn, wake up."

Devlyn woke up with a start.

"Hmm? Where am I? Ken?"

"You were having a bad dream," Ken kissed the top of her head, "Maybe of your dad?"

A moment of silence passed between the two teenagers.

"Oh. Right." Devlyn crossed her arms over her chest and touched Ken's arms her hands.

"Want to talk about it?"

Devlyn shook her head.

"Not really."

"Alright; want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

Devlyn nodded.

"Okay."

Devlyn turned on her side and Ken pulled up the covers to her chin and smoothed her hair back; he began to rock her gently back and forth. Gwen watched on with amazement. How could she have missed this? How they felt about each other was plain. Gwen liked to think that she was smarter, but maybe Ben was right: she had seen Devlyn as a daughter for the last 5 years and hence saw her also as Ken's sister. But she wasn't his sister. And Ken clearly didn't see her as his sister any more than Devlyn saw him as her brother.

Gwen decided to stay and watch until Devlyn fell asleep. 5 minutes later, Ken gently lifted her and placed her back down on her bed. Devlyn stirred softly as he tucked her in and kissed the side of her head; he walked toward the doorway.

Gwen was trapped; there was no where to hide. She decided to just stay and scare the life out of her son by default.

"She asleep?" Gwen asked as Ken walked into the hallway.

If Ken was a cat, he would've jumped 15 feet in the air, but since he wasn't he stared wide-eyed at his mother.

"Basically; how long have you been here?"

"A little while now. Why do you think her nightmares have increased?"

Ken relaxed and crossed his arms. Not defensively but thoughtfully.

"I don't know; I've tried to reassure her over and over Kevin won't come for her, but she doesn't seem to believe me."

"She has a lot of trauma dealing with Kevin from the time she was 8 years old. Remember, he accidentally killed her mother right in front of her."

Ken drew in a sharp breath and nodded slowly.

"Maybe she should get some kind of therapy for that."

"I thought maybe her living here had cured some of that, but I guess it just buried the deeper issues; I'll talk to her about it tomorrow and see what she thinks about it."

 _Among other things,_ Gwen thought to herself.

Ken nodded.

"Okay; sounds good to me. Night, Mom."

"Good night, Ken."

She watched as her son returned to his room before she returned to her own.

Ben was still sleeping soundly. She smiled; even after all those years of Plumber training, he still slept like a rock.

As she crawled back into bed and slid herself close to her husband, her thoughts were on Ken and Devlyn. Did they know one had feelings for the other? Or were they oblivious to their feelings for each other, like she and Ben had been for many years before it hit them like a ton of bricks? She hopped that was the case, because, in the meantime, she could figure out how to handle it until that day came. On further reflection, they didn't make a bad couple. And, considering Devlyn's history with men, it made sense she would fall for the first nice guy that she met. She didn't disapprove of them together per se; she was just going to have to get used to it, plus there was the issue of keeping their rooms apart.

Maybe they wouldn't figure it out until college; that was perfectly fine with Gwen as long as they didn't get their hearts broken with other people in the meantime, like she had with someone else long ago.

* * *

 **Alright, I thought a different point of view would be a nice switch-up for this chapter. Besides, Ben and Gwen haven't been as involved with this story as they should.**

 **Anyway, please review or comment, but please no flames, foul language and or/character bashing.**


	8. An Unlikely Meeting

Brady Roche knew he shouldn't be here; his parents would kill him if they found out, but he didn't care. Since being scorned by Devlyn Levin, this had become his favorite place of solace, though, he really wished the owner of the alien bar didn't like the Star Wars Pub theme; talk about stereotyping your entire species! It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't played on a loop, but it was. Was there any way to request something different? Or better yet, find the radio or whatever devise played this and rip it off its shelf?

Whatever. At least he looked old enough to pass for 21, and thanks to his fake ID, he could get in and out of these things easy. He just made sure he didn't go home drunk for fear of his parents finding out. _That_ would be a mistake; and messy.

"I know that look," a deep masculine voice said beside him, "and I know it well; you're drowning your sorrows because of a woman."

Brady was about to reply in a snarky manner, "What the _heck_ do you know about my situation?!" when he saw who was speaking to him. He blinked, not believing his own eyes. Was this Kevin Freakin' Levin? Brady didn't know he was out of the Null Void!

"Wait, are you…Kevin Levin?"

Kevin gave a smirk that reminded Brady eerily of Devlyn when she was smug.

"In the flesh."

This was probably the best and worst thing that had ever happened to Brady. Wait until he found out which woman he was drowning his sorrows over! On second thought, maybe that wasn't the best idea. Kevin might have not had much in the raising department of Devlyn, but Brady didn't want to risk Kevin punching him through a wall; after all, she was still his daughter.

After a moment of processing, Brady spoke.

"I didn't know you were out."

Kevin laughed.

"Not too many people do, though I'm always happy to meet a fan."

Brady hadn't always been a fan of Kevin per se. After all, he _had_ always abandoned Devlyn in one way or another. But there was always this comparison between the two of them, so maybe Kevin wasn't as bad as everyone said.

Brady shrugged.

"Just didn't know you were out, man. What are you doing now?"

Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Just trying to get my daughter on board for a new job, but she's being rebellious."

Brady blinked then laughed. If he wasn't almost drunk he wouldn't have responded the way he did.

"Good luck with _that_ ; Devlyn's stubborn as an old mule. Guess I know where she gets it from, at least."

Kevin looked surprised as his smile disappeared.

"How would _you_ know that?"

Realizing that he had said too much (again,) he went back to sipping his pint.

Kevin regarded him thoughtfully.

"Wait a minute…Devlyn wouldn't be the reason you're drowning your sorrows…is she?"

Now Brady was in trouble. Telling the truth would probably get him punched through a wall (at least all Ben did was _throw_ him out of the house!) and lying to him…well, he might not want to lie to Kevin Levin.

Still…

"No…" Brady still looked guilty as sin and Kevin picked up on it with a snort.

"You're a horrible liar, kid; I know a liar when I see one. Trust me; it takes one to know one."

Brady was trapped. He looked around for the nearest exit and found it behind him.

"Yes." He suddenly got up and began to bolt for the front door.

"Whoa, whoa, kid!" Kevin laughed as he grabbed the back of the teenager's shirt, "I'm not going to kill you; I was just curious. How do you know her?"

Brady stopped running in place and sat down on the bar stool.

"We go to school together."

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Devlyn's in high school. How are you in here dri-" A knowing look came across his face. "You have a fake ID don't you?"

"Maybe…"

"Relax; I got put away for much worse. I'm not going to rat you out."

Brady breathed a sigh of relief and picked up his pint.

"Well, rumor is that you killed your own wife."

A muscle jerked in Kevin's jaw and Brady suddenly knew it was true. Maybe he hadn't meant to kill her.

"Yeah…I don't like to talk about it; or her." He drank his own pint and set it down on the bar. "Anyway, what happened between you and Devlyn? Were you together and she broke up with you when she found out about your…criminal activities, or did you ask her out and she said no?"

Brady set down his empty pint.

"Neither. Though, I _have_ asked her out; multiple times. The last time I tried to ask her out, she told me to go to the Null Void and get drained by Darkstar. That, and Ben and Ken threw me out of the house. Literally."

Kevin chuckled.

"That does seem to be Devlyn's favorite threat."

"She tried it on you before?"

"Not exactly. But she would say it to my partners when she was a kid. One of them would say how cute she was or another tried to bribe her and she would throw that out at them even at 10 years old."

Brady chuckled.

"She's got fire doesn't she?"

"No kidding. Gets it from me."

"Her mom didn't-" Kevin glared at Brady and he shut his mouth. Right. Don't talk about Devlyn's mom. "Never mind."

"Yeah…" Kevin looked distant, "I used to be so proud of her that she could spot a bribe or blackmail or even a double cross a mile away. I trained her well." He chuckled bitterly. "Then she turned me in and went to live with the Tennysons. Haven't seen much of her since."

"You try reaching out to her?"

"Yep; she wants nothing to do with me."

"Same here. It drives me crazy! _She_ drives me crazy. Ever since I met her in Freshmen year, there was something about her that I couldn't resist. It wasn't looks, it wasn't feelings, it was…was…"

"Like she instantly got into your veins?" Kevin gave him a knowing, almost sad smile. "Yeah, I get it, kid. You met her and it was like a bolt of lighting. Then you find that she's impossible to get, and you spend your whole life trying to get her out of your system. You might meet other people, other girls that might have the appearance of her or act like her, but something like you're experiencing only happens once in a lifetime. And by the way, you never get her out of your blood."

"Gee, thanks a lot."

Kevin smiled bitterly.

"Hey, no one ever said I was the therapeutic type."

"I'll laugh at anyone who says you are."

"Feel free to; I'll join in."

What Kevin just described sounded like he was speaking from personal experience, but Brady thought better before asking. He might have been talking about Devlyn's mother and he wasn't entirely drunk.

"So," Kevin set his pint down on the bar, "What're your powers, kid? You can't be in here if you're full blooded human."

"My mom can run at the speed of life and my dad has super strength. I guess you can say that I have a little bit of both."

"Kind of like Superman?"

"Trust me, I'm no Superman."

Kevin laughed.

"If you were, you wouldn't be in here."

"Exactly. I'm stronger than the average human wrestler or even alien for that matter. But I leap better than I fly. In fact, I don't fly at all. If I wanted to I could clear a building in a single bound, but that's just about it."

Kevin nodded intrigued.

"What are your parents like?"

"Oh, like your average boring American citizens. They could do so much more because of their powers, but they just want a 'normal' life. Everyone loves them and says they're the nicest people in the world. My dad's a chef and my mom's a hair salonist."

Kevin laughed again.

"Well if they were looking for normal, they found it. Half-aliens just don't understand that they were meant to use their powers; you can't hide them forever."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Kevin tapped his thumb thoughtfully on the bar and Brady wondered what he was thinking.

"But you don't want to be like them, do ya, kid?"

"Not in the least."

"You want something like adventure, adrenaline coursing through your veins."

"Something like that."

"So why don't you join the Plumbers?"

"You kidding me? They'll kick me out on the first day of boot camp!"

"Why?"

Brady smiled.

"Because I can't be controlled. I don't take orders from anybody. I answer to only myself."

Kevin smiled then laughed.

"I like you, kid. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age."

A little, very faint voice inside Brady told him that was a bad thing but he ignored it. In fact, he was beyond through with listening to his conscience.

"So…" Kevin leaned on the bar with his arm, "Is the fake ID your only felony?"

"Yeah and I haven't been caught."

Kevin smiled even bigger.

"You might be just what I need."

"Why's that?"

"The reason why I wanted Devlyn on this particular job was because she's not in the system. You know, the kind of system that the Plumbers use to keeps track of criminals. Devlyn might be my daughter and I might have groomed her, but she's not in the system because she didn't do anything except help me escape the Null Void, but she was 11 and hasn't done anything since so they wiped her record and she's no longer in the system. Her record's clean and anything she does won't be traced back to her right away. That's the kind of person that I need right now. Someone who hasn't committed any crimes yet, so it can't be immediately traced back to anybody. Also somebody with your abilities can't hurt. So what do you say, kid? You interested?"

Brady blinked a couple of times so he could process the information. Did he just get an offer from Kevin Levin, the father of his longtime crush? Granted, the situation was way more complicated than that, but it almost didn't matter though. Besides he needed to get his mind off of Devlyn for a little while. Even thought it would be working with her father who could tell him things that Devlyn hadn't been willing to give about herself.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best method, but truth be told, Brady had secretly wanted something like this for a long time. Opportunity had always evaded him before this point, but now it was staring at him right in the face and he had never been the type pass by an opportunity.

He smiled and extended his hand.

"Sure. What do I have to lose at this point anyway?"

 _Your reputation, your future, your final threadbare chance at winning Devlyn's affections!_

Brady inwardly groaned at his screaming conscience.

 _Shut up, Jiminy Cricket! This isn't_ _Once Upon a Time,_ _and I'm not listening to you anymore!_

Sitting across from him, Kevin smiled and shook Brady's extended hand.

"I knew I liked you. Kevin Levin."

"Brady Roche."

* * *

Devlyn woke up to the sun streaming into her window and placed her hand to her forehead as she felt the effects of a restless night's sleep. Not to mention her tangled sheets were living proof of how her sleep was-or wasn't.

She got up and unplugged her phone from her charger. It was then that she noticed that she had gotten a text in the middle of the night. It wasn't from anyone in her contacts. With furrowed eyebrows, Devlyn looked at the message and felt her eyebrows shoot up as she read it.

 _It's ur dad. U just earned urself another week to decide what u want since I found some1 else to do the job with me. C u in a week._

 _-Dad._

Devlyn groaned as she fell back on her back, partially in relief, partially in annoyance. Her dad somehow knew her phone number. Great. She'd have to get a new phone and a new number. But in the meantime she saved her father's number to contacts and titled him _Daddy Dearest_ thankful that she had a little bit longer to figure out how she was going to outsmart him.


	9. Look For the Girl With The Broken Smile

**Well, it's funny how I lost track of the timeline of the story. I thought it had been a few days since she had seen Kevin when it had only been the night before! XD Of course it has something to do with the fact that the last few chapters have centered on what had happened in those 12 hours or so after Kevin confronted Devlyn so it seemed longer than it was.**

 **On a side note, I wanted to give the bridge of Maroon 5's** _ **She Will Be Loved**_ **to open up the chapter and the chorus of My Darkest Day's** _ **Perfect**_ **to open up the last, but Fanfiction doesn't allow that, so, oh well.**

 **Let's just get on with the chapter shall we?**

* * *

Ken woke up to the sound of his alarm on his phone and he shot up in bed to turn it off.

He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because he was concerned about Devlyn. She was usually a deep sleeper which is why she rarely woke up from her nightmares, which she had frequently when she had first moved in with him and his family. It wasn't _too_ much a surprise when they started up after Kevin had been released from the Null Void, but something was telling Ken that it was much more than just that; something was off, and he was going to find out what. That is, if one of his parents didn't get to her first.

His dad went to the Plumber's HQ around 9:00. It was 7:30, so he might be up, he might not. His mother got up around the same time, if not, before Ben to wake him up, so, they might be already downstairs asking Devlyn if something more than the fear of her father coming to get her was up. He wanted to ask her first, mainly because he felt that she was more likely to open up to him than to his parents. Not that she didn't trust his parents, they just had more of a special bond that invited 100% confidence. And one of them always knew when the other wasn't confiding in the other. Ken had often gotten that vibe from Devlyn over the years, but that was usually because she was quiet by nature, so she took a little longer to tell him, which he would normally wait for with patience, but something told Ken that this was something that he shouldn't wait on. He got up and decided to get dressed after breakfast so he could see her before Ben and Gwen.

He peeked into her room before heading down the stairs and saw the bed empty and made. Once he saw that she wasn't in the room, he quietly stole down the steps.

As he approached the kitchen he slowed his steps even more and peeked around the hallway.

After living with Devlyn for 6 years, he knew all of her habits-even the ones that she didn't think anyone knew about, one of which was her quiet morning ritual.

He had never told her that he knew this about her, but she was always the first one up so she was downstairs by herself for a good amount of time before the rest of the family got up. What she would do because no one else was around-or rather when she _thought_ no one else was around is she would turn on her iPod, plug her earbuds in and dance around the kitchen to her favorite music. He remembered the first time he caught her doing it.

It had been their first Christmas together and Ken was 10-years-old at the time so _of course_ he would be up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning.

He had walked to through the living room that day because of the presents that would be under the tree but also to get to the kitchen because the two rooms were connected when he saw Devlyn dancing around in the kitchen. He had initially rubbed his eyes and wondered if he was still asleep.

Of course he wasn't and he hadn't known what to make of it at the time; he had just slowly walked back around the corner and watched from a distance, wondering what to do. He had thought about interrupting her just to see the look on her face when he had caught her, but he hadn't wanted to do that. It wasn't until months later that he realized why: he liked watching her dance.

Despite the fact she was a tomboy, Devlyn was a wonderful dancer which was probably a result because of how willowy she was. If she wanted to, she could be a ballerina, but, of course, that was out of the question for someone like Devlyn who cringed at the very word. Besides, she had to wear pink, and if there was one color Ken had never seen her in, it was pink.

He never told her that he knew of her little morning wake-up ritual because, well, he didn't know _exactly_ why, he just never told her. Maybe if he told her, she would stop altogether, and, even if Ken was rarely up around that time of morning, he didn't want her to stop.

But as Ken currently rounded the hallway corner, he saw Devlyn sitting at the kitchen table, her back turned to him, her head tilted into one of her hands, listlessly stirring her spoon into a cereal bowl.

Alright, something was _definitely_ off if she wasn't even listening to music at that moment.

He walked up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. She jumped initially then relaxed as she realized that it was just him.

"Good morning." She placed one of her hands on top of his. He leaned down and took in her scent through her hair. Something was changing between the two of them. He didn't know what or why, but it was there. He knew it was something obvious, something staring at him right in the face, but he couldn't figure out what that was. Whatever it was, he had to think about it later, because Devlyn needed him right now even if she wouldn't admit it.

Ken sat down next to her, one of his hands still on her shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Ken raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think I buy that anymore, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Dev, it's gone beyond just a little paranoia. You're not just quieter than usual, you're closed off. You've all but completely disappeared inside of yourself, you're jumpy, and you've been having nightmares. I'm not sure if you remember, but just last night, I had to wake you up from one. It's showing too, like those dark circles under your eyes; they're very noticeable because you're pale and you have jet black hair."

Devlyn looked down at her cereal bowl.

"Besides," Ken rubbed her back, "I've known you for 6 years; you don't think I don't know when you're hiding something from me?"

Devlyn looked back up and shrugged before turning her attention back to her soggy breakfast.

"So what's up?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Ken snorted.

"Well that much is obvious, but is it something you _should_ be talking about?"

Devlyn shrugged.

Ken thought for a moment before speaking.

"You know, I didn't think much about it before last night, but Mom suggested something that I can't help but wonder now. That your father showed up to you when we weren't around. Was she that far off?"

Devlyn froze before continuing to stir her milk.

Ken felt as if he had been hit by a truck.

"Oh, man, he _did,_ didn't he?"

Devlyn swallowed.

"When?"

She didn't answer.

"Devlyn, when?"

"The other night. When I was at the library."

"What did he want?"

She looked up at him with those soulful, bright blue eyes.

"What do you think?"

Ken felt the air drain almost entirely out of his lungs.

"He wants you back?"

Devlyn nodded.

"But…why? He clearly didn't care about you six years ago. What changed?"

Devlyn looked away again.

"I don't think anything's changed, except the fact that he wants us to be one of those father/daughter crime duos."

"Oh, sign me up, Daddy." Ken said sarcastically.

Devlyn cracked a small smile despite her situation.

"Pretty much." Her smile disappeared. "He's making me choose between you guys or him."

"The answer should be pretty easy."

"It is, but the consequences might not be."

"Such as…"

"He might try and kill you guys."

"That's nothing new."

"Yes, but…I don't want it to come to that."

"I don't think any of us do. But we're pretty durable. I mean, my mom's an Anodite, my dad has the Omnitrix and I have one of my own." He tapped the watch on his wrist. "And you're still developing your powers; we should be fine if he tries anything." He tucked a strand of silky black hair behind her ear. "I just don't know why you felt the need to keep something like that from us, except the fact you have this need to take everything upon yourself and go about it alone."

Devlyn smiled.

"That might have something to do with it; orphan's instinct."

"You know you don't have to follow that instinct."

"Yeah, but that's the thing about instinct; they're second nature."

Ken tilted his head.

"True."

There was a moment of silence as both was absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Did your dad give you a deadline to think about it?"

Devlyn nodded.

"A week. He left town to do a job; he didn't say where. But I have a week to decide."

"Or in your case, a week to figure out how to say 'no'."

"Pretty much."

Ken stroked her hair.

"Is there anything else on your mind?"

"Only that my dad and your parents have a more complicated history than we thought they did."

Ken's eyebrows shot up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, like you wouldn't believe."

"Try me."

Ken suddenly heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, which was followed by a lighter pair of feet. Devlyn hesitated.

"Maybe we should talk to your parents about it at dinner tonight."

"Alright; should make for interesting conversation."

Devlyn chuckled dryly.

"You've got that right."

"Morning, kids." Ben walked into the kitchen followed by Gwen.

"Morning, Dad." Ken got up to get breakfast as his dad walked over to where Devlyn was sitting. "How are you doing, honey?"

Devlyn gave a small smile to his dad.

"A little better now."

"That's good." Gwen kissed her head before getting coffee though Ken could see his parents keeping an eye on her from the corner of their eyes.

Well, at least he knew, and they were going to know tonight. He just wondered how his parents would react and just how complicated the history between the Levin and Tennysons were beyond how it already was.


End file.
